Lopez suffered the injury playing basketball with his teammates Saturday.

A walk-on point guard from Knoxville, Tenn., and graduate of Austin-East High School, Lopez appeared in 31 games over the past three seasons, including 14 SEC contests.

"Obviously this is a huge blow to our team, as Brandon had worked himself into a position where he was competing for a starting role," UT head coach Donnie Tyndall said. "It's very disappointing for our team, but it's even more disappointing for a great young man who has worked extremely hard this off-season. Brandon's positive attitude and upbeat mentality will get him through this tough time."